Dental tongue retainer



June 8, 1954 J. M. CRAIGO DENTAL TONGUE RETAINER Filed July 14, 1953 INVENTOR JOHN M. CRA/GO ZE- 9. M

AGENT Patented June 8, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved tongue .retainer or holder to be used by the dentist to facilitate and improve the making of dentures. This application is a continuation-impart of my co-pending application Ser. No. 297,557, filed July '7, 1952, now Patent No. 2,674,798, issued April 13, 1954.

An object of the invention is to provide a tongue retainer in an upper dental bite block in such a manner that the patients tongue is retained in the posterior region of the mouth so that the tongue tip cannot act undesirably on the front portion of the bite block.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a plate-like tongue retainer member across the arch of an upper dental bite block, said plate-like member having an opening in the posterior region of the bite block adapted to receive the patients tongue tip and thereby retain the tongue in this posterior region.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in the plate member of the tongue retainer lateral cut-outs or indentations at the front for permitting the patients tongue tip to be located therein. Under certain conditions the dentist may want the patient to place his tongue tip at these places rather than have the tongue tip inserted in the opening at the posterior region.

Another important feature of the invention is a.

to provide in the plate member of the tongue retainer a groove or rib extending from its front edge to the opening for the tongue tip, so that the tongue may feel its Way into th opening.

With the above and other features in view, the invention may include features of construction and operation set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is an inverted perspective view of the upper bite block showing the tongue retainer or holder mounted within said block in which some of the anterior teeth are set in place.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the tongue retainer of Fig. 1 alone.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are inverted perspective views of modified tongue retainers.

Referring more in detail to the figures of the drawing and first to Fig. 1, it will be seen that upper bite block ID of plastic material, such as wax, was made from an impression of the patients upper mouth portion to which the denture is to be fitted. In the same way, a lower bite block not shown in the drawing, may be made, if a lower denture is to be fitted. These bite blocks are made in the usual manner and are built up to the proper height with a hard plastic or wax composition so that their ridges conform to thebiting edges of the teeth in the denture being made. Some of the anterior teeth I! are shown as embedded in the upper bite block I0 in the conventional manner, while the posterior teeth are not illustrated, i. e. have not yet been set in place.

A tongue retainer plate l2 of relatively stiff material, for example, of a sheet or metal stamping or of plastic, is mounted in the arch of the bite block ill to extend across said arch, whereby "the edges of this retainer plate may be embedded in the material at the inner walls of said arch. The contour of the outer rim of the retainer plate I 2 corresponds to a great extent to the shape of the arch of the bite block 10. This tongue retainer plate l2, which is shown alone in Fig. 2 prior to its securing to the bite block it) in Fig. 1, has'a large opening l3 in the posterior portion. When the upper bite block is in the patients mouth, the tip M of th patients tongue l5 can easily enter this opening from below as indicated in Fig. 1, in which the relationship appears to be reversed due to the inverted showing. Actually the tongue tip M passes through the opening 53 and will be accommodated in the chamber between the tongue retainer plate l2 and the arch of the bite block 18 somewhat forward relative to the opening 13. The dimensions of this openin [3 which has a well rounded contour shaped according to the form of the tongue tip M are such that said tongue tip will penetrate the above mentioned chamber to a limited extent only, i. e. the tip I4 will be prevented from extending to the anterior portion of the bite block. The tongue tip is restricted in its movements and retained at a place where it cannot exert forces on the anterior portions of the bite block. These forces are undesirable, as they tend to'deform the bite block and change its position in the mouth.

In the mbodiment of the tongue retainer i1- lustrated in Fig. 3, the front portion of the plate l2 has a centrally located groove or rib [6 extending from the front rim of this plate to the front edge of the opening l3 for the tongue tip. The construction of the tongue retainer in Fig. 3 is otherwise the same as that shown in Fig. 2. The groove 16 serves as guide for the patients tongue tip to find the opening l3, i. e. the tip of the tongue will first contact this groove l6 and then slide along the groove until it enters the opening I3 in which it will be retained.

In the modified embodiment of the tongue retainer illustrated in Fig. 4, a spider-like sheet metal stamping i7 replaces the plate member 12 of Fig. 2. Th rear part IQ of this stamping is ovally shaped and has an opening 19 in the posterior portion adapted to receive the patients tongue tip. Two short projections or lugs 20, one at each side of the rear part i8, serve to mount the retainer in the upper bite block by waxing their ends 22 into opposite sides of this bite block. In addition to these two lateral projections 28 or mounting means, a third somewhat longer projection or lug 2! is provided at the center of the front of the oval part 18 to extend forwardly so that it may rest against the forward portion of the arch of the upper bite block, where the end 23 of this projection will be embedded in the block material in the same way as the aforementioned two lateral projections 20. As shown in Fig. 4, thes projections 20 and 2! are bent at their respective ends 22 and 23 so that the latter can penetrate somewhat deeper into the bite block walls to firmly anchor the retainer II in the arch of this bite block.

Fig. shows a modification of the tongue retainer in which a plate member 24 is similar to the plate member l2 in Fig. 2. While the front part of the plate member [2 is solid and has the shape of the arch of the upper bite block, two lateral cut-outs 25 and 28, one at each side, are provided in the front part of the plate member 24 of Fig. 5, leaving a central strip 21 between them, which has similar form and function as the projection 21 in Fig. 4.

The posterior portion of the plate member 24 has an opening I3 for the tongue tip, having the same form as the corresponding portion in Fig. 2. The plate member 24 can be easily mounted on or waxed into fixed position within the upper bite block in principally the same manner, as the retainer members i2 and H in Figs. 2 and 4, respectively.

Due to provision of the lateral cut-outs or indentations in the front parts of the embodiments of the tongue retainer according to Figs. 4 and 5 it is possible to place the patients tongue tip in either the right or left of the pockets obtained by these cut-outs or indentations. With the tongue tip in either of these pockets, the tongue has the tendency to produce a lateral protusive position of the lower jaw. Thus, the dentist can use the tongue retainers according to Figs. 4 and 5 either to hold the patients tongue fixed by inserting the tongue. tip in the posterior opening H3 or l3, respectively, or to permit the tongue tip to enter the front pockets on either side to produce the above indicated action on the jaw.

While there have been described what at present are considered preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be evident that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from its spirit. It is therefore aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A tongue retainer for an upper dental bite block of plastic material, comprising a plate member extending across the arch of said bite block, edges of said member adapted to secure the latter to said bite block, said plate member having an opening through its posterior region and being adapted to receive the tongue tip and retain the tongue in said posterior region when the tongue tip is inserted in said opening.

2. A tongue retainer according to claim 1, wherein said edges are adapted to be embedded in said plastic material.

3. A tongue retainer according to claim 1, wherein said plate member has lateral cut-outs at its front portion leaving a central strip as front mounting means for said member extending to the anterior portion of said bite block.

4. A tongue retainer according to claim 1, wherein lugs are adapted to be extending from said plate member and are embedded in said material of said bite block.

5. A tongue retainer according to claim 4, wherein said lugs are bent toward the inner wall of said bite block.

6. In an upper dental bite block of plastic material, a tongue retainer comprising a plate member extending across the arch of said bite block and having edges mounted on said bite block, said plate member being formed with an opening through its posterior region and being adapted to receive the tongue tip, whereby the tongue is retained in said posterior region, when the tongue tip is inserted in said opening.

7. In an upper dental bite block according to claim 6, wherein the front portion of said plate member has a central groove extending to said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 650,464 Hough May 29, 1900 1,791,796 Christopher Feb. 10, 1931 2,572,117 Dennis Oct. 23, 1951 

